Segregated Witness (SegWit)
Segregated Witness (SegWit) is a protocol upgrade for the Bitcoin blockchain that was activated in August 2017. It was designed to improve the scalability of the Bitcoin network by increasing the block size limit and reducing transaction fees. SegWit also enables the use of second-layer solutions such as the Lightning Network, which allows for faster and cheaper transactions. SegWit is a soft fork, meaning that it is backwards compatible with the existing Bitcoin protocol.
History of SegWit
SegWit was first proposed in 2015 by Bitcoin Core developer Pieter Wuille as a way to address the scalability issues that had been plaguing the Bitcoin network. The proposal was met with some resistance from the Bitcoin community, but eventually gained enough support to be implemented in August 2017. Since then, SegWit has been adopted by a majority of Bitcoin users and is now the most widely used protocol upgrade for the Bitcoin network.
Comparison of SegWit and Non-SegWit Transactions
| Transaction Type | Block Size Limit | Transaction Fees |
|---|---|---|
| SegWit | 4 MB | Low |
| Non-SegWit | 1 MB | High |
Summary
Segregated Witness (SegWit) is a protocol upgrade for the Bitcoin blockchain that was designed to improve the scalability of the Bitcoin network by increasing the block size limit and reducing transaction fees. SegWit also enables the use of second-layer solutions such as the Lightning Network, which allows for faster and cheaper transactions. For more information about SegWit, you can visit the Bitcoin Core website or the Bitcoin Wiki.
See Also
- Lightning Network
- Bitcoin Core
- Soft Fork
- Block Size Limit
- Transaction Fees
- Scalability
- Proof of Work
- Mining
- Blockchain
- Cryptocurrency
